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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Tobie is a DOG

In previous posts (which ones precisely, I forget), it has been mentioned that I firmly believe that Tobie is in fact a dog. Tobie naturally doesn't want to discuss the reasoning behind this belief and left it to me to finally write about it.

So here I am.

Now as a disclaimer, I do admit I'm quite the animal lover and my family has had a long history of caring for dogs, cats, fish and other pets. So naturally I have a bit of a thing for furry animals and that may color my contextual analysis in relation to Tobie. But at the same time, the theory just works and I've shared it with a few friends and they've laughed about how much sense it makes.

So let's begin.

It all started when Tobie shared with me that he was deathly afraid of dogs. I mean seriously, it was a totally irrational fear that was bad enough for him to find himself unable to move when a dog would happen to be nearby. Of course I found this was weird since I was raised with dogs and I know that even a doberman can be pretty friendly under the right circumstances.

So I started to spend more and more time thinking about Tobie's fears and what I could possibly do to help him overcome them. And in the course of observing him and listening to his stories, I came to the realization that perhaps the root of his dog fears is because he behaves like a dog himself! It was a crazy theory, but it worked given quite a number of behaviors that I had observed and even tested for accuracy.

I won't list everything, but here are a few reasons that support my theory:

Tobie tends to whimper and whine when I have to leave for work - I could record a sound clip, but that might be going a tad too far, hehe

If you dangle something near his mouth with enough movement (e.g. a potato chip, my finger), he will involuntarily try to grab it with his teeth or snap at it. (And yes, I've tested this extensively).

Belly rubs.

He has been known to growl without thinking when you try to take away something that he's currently eating.

He responds positively to scratching behind his ears - which I've also tested

And the list goes on and on. There are even more behaviors and various sounds he makes, which are difficult to describe in words, that provides further evidence of his true canine nature.

But I'm happy that he's a dog - and more importantly he's my dog. And given how my asthma makes having a pet difficult, there's a weird sense of fulfillment in being in a relationship with someone who is both your boyfriend and your pet!

I'm kidding! Sheesh, lighten up people!

Of course the great things about Tobie being a dog are more related to what kind of dog I've figured him out to be. He is in fact a golden retriever, which admittedly is my favorite breed. He's amazingly loyal and helpful. He performs errands and chores happily (something we both share, thankfully). And he makes a great pillow when watching TV!

So the next time you try to understand your boyfriend's more eccentric behaviors, why don't you try to figure out if he has an animal side to him, too? I can only wonder what animal Tobie might try to compare me too - I imagine it won't be an overly friendly one, har har.